Disciple of The Three Kings [EN]: Chapter 368

A blue, luminous dragon was painted on the floor and walls.
From within, a brilliant blue light burst forth, forming a kind of barrier.
A vast amount of divine energy.
“It’s a barrier to prevent the approach of evil spirits,” Taesan Jin-in said, before briefly leaving his spot.
“This is a safe zone.”
Watching him leave, Lee Dong-gyun of the Unknowns smirked and said,
“Safe zone.”
Even inside the gate, a battlefield filled with monsters, it was a special space where monsters rarely approached and attacks were avoided.
Many people rested in such safe zones, and in the case of long-term strategies, they would even eat and sleep there.
Even here.
“A safe zone here, it’s like a gate,” Choi Ye-seul said.
There was such a safe zone even on the Demonic Celestial Peak where demons appeared.
“It’s thanks to Kunlun.”
Of course, it was an artificial area created by the Jin-in of Kunlun [a powerful sect in the story’s world].
“…….”
Choi Ye-seul flinched.
“What’s wrong?” Gin asked, looking at Choi Ye-seul.
“For some reason, it feels like I’m acknowledging Kunlun.”
“…….”
The Unknowns fell silent.
She was right.
As Unknowns, they hated the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Clans.
Those who usurped sovereignty and treated the original inhabitants of Earth like slaves.
The Unknowns were a new righteous army that opposed those who thought of players as mere resources to be used.
“What happened?”
It wasn’t a place to talk about things in a place where demons appeared, so they moved.
The Unknowns looked past Choi Ye-seul, towards Yi Rown.
“Do we have to step aside?” Yi Rown asked, looking at them.
“It would be appreciated if you did,” Rachel said.
“Why should I?”
“……Huh?”
“Why should I step aside?”
The Unknowns’ faces went blank at Yi Rown’s retort.
“I’m the one who brought Choi Ye-seul here.”
“……!”
“I saved her earlier too.”
“That’s…!”
The Unknowns, who were confident that they would survive no matter what, tried to voice their objections.
“Well, if it’s not from the clutches of demons, let’s just say I saved her from my own hands.”
However, they shut their mouths at Yi Rown’s confident voice.
“Now and in the future.”
Yi Rown’s words.
“This is, a threat…?”
“To think he’d threaten us so openly.”
It was a threat to tell them to speak up since he was going to save them anyway, or at least to treat them properly when he was being so gentlemanly.
“…….”
A situation where the Unknowns’ affairs had to be revealed to the outside.
The Unknowns, except for Choi Ye-seul, seemed lost in thought.
“If it’s Yi Rown, we can trust him,” Choi Ye-seul persuaded them.
“He’s someone the leader was interested in from the start. And we all know what kind of background Yi Rown has, right?”
“That’s… true.”
“And Yi Rown’s words aren’t wrong either. Yi Rown, and both the Great Swordsman and the Black King here.”
Choi Ye-seul said.
“They came to help and save me, so I think they deserve to hear it. More than anything….”
“Is the leader in danger?” Lee Dong-gyun asked.
The Unknowns’ eyes deepened.
The one they called leader.
It meant the Soul-Spirit Divine Physician.
They were all connected by the Soul-Spirit Divine Physician, and they must have realized that he had been injured in his soul and had fallen asleep.
“Alright.”
At that moment, a man who had been leaning against the wall with his arms crossed spoke.
A man who was still wearing a mask even now that everyone had revealed their faces.
He was Kim Tae-gyun, who was known as a legend in the player world in the past, and his every move was filled with experience and maturity.
“I’ll tell you.”

* * *

“First, there’s something that needs to be corrected.”
The leader of the Unknowns was the Soul-Spirit Divine Physician, Lee San-hoo.
He was the one who gathered the Unknowns and lifted their restrictions.
But the leader who actually led them in the field was someone else.
“We weren’t kidnapped.”
Kim Tae-gyun.
He was the one who was called a legend in the player world in the past.
“Huh?” Choi Ye-seul said, looking dumbfounded.
“There was something that had been discussed with Kunlun for a long time.”
Lee Dong-gyun nodded at Kim Tae-gyun’s words.
“The leader knew about it too.”
“Huh…?”
Everyone had similar expressions.
“Why am I the only one….”
“Because you’re different from us.”
Rachel said firmly, then waved her hand with a bewildered look.
“Don’t misunderstand! It’s not like we’re ignoring you or anything!”
Rachel said, taking a deep breath.
“You have things to lose.”
“…….”
“You have a job and a family, and you somehow became one of us, but it’s been bothering me.”
The Unknowns.
Most of them were like Kim Tae-gyun.
Those who were known to be dead, or those who would rather be dead.
Those who had once made a name for themselves and had fallen into ruin.
“So, I was going to tell you when everything was decided.”
But they didn’t.
“I didn’t tell you because it seemed like you’d be okay staying.”
“…….”
They looked at Oh Jin-kyung.
“If it was the Great Swordsman, he was someone we acknowledged among those martial artists.”
By chance, Choi Ye-seul met Oh Jin-kyung.
No, at first….
“It was a mission.”
It was a mission and an operation.
An opportunity arose by chance, and they could have avoided it if they wanted to.
“Hae Nam is one of the Nine Great Sects. Moreover, it’s a force that can exert a huge influence in South Korea.”
Choi Ye-seul volunteered for that dangerous mission.
But Lee Tae-gyeom was more radical than they thought, and in the process, she met the Great Swordsman.
The Unknowns, who learned that she was saved by the Great Swordsman and that the two of them had become close….
“It seemed better to just leave her alone….”
That’s why they left Choi Ye-seul behind.
“Even if you just said….”
“Would you have stayed if we did?” Lee Dong-gyun said.
“You would have made a fuss about following us.”
“Then the kidnapping….”
“It wasn’t to deceive you, but to deceive those around us. You knew we were being tracked, right? If we made it look like an outside force kidnapped you, the attention would disappear or be diverted. Well, we thought you’d give up soon too.”
“…….”
It was a plausible story.
“Well, it turned out like this, but it’s because of the leader.”
Originally, going to Kunlun was planned under the leadership of the Soul-Spirit Divine Physician, and they were supposed to move together.
But.
“It’s urgent.”
Kunlun found them sooner than expected.
The Soul-Spirit Divine Physician told them to leave first.
And when they arrived here….
“The connection with the leader was cut off.”
They realized that something had happened to the Soul-Spirit Divine Physician.
“We wanted to go back, but we couldn’t,” Kim Tae-gyun said.
“Kunlun said that players who set foot on the Demonic Celestial Peak receive their protection and blessings, and that they cannot leave the Demonic Celestial Peak while those effects are in effect.”
It was a matter of fighting demons.
“A restriction.”
Yi Rown seemed to know what Kunlun had done.
A restriction, a method of gaining great power when certain conditions were met.
Ancient formations or….
“Gehenna.”
Gehenna [a place of torment or hell].
Or….
“It’s a method used by the Demonic Cult.”
It was a method used by the Demonic Cult.
“Now it’s my turn to ask,” Kim Tae-gyun said, looking at Choi Ye-seul and then turning his gaze to Yi Rown.
“Is the leader… okay?”
He must have wanted to ask.
He had thought about mentioning it to Kunlun, but he was reluctant because it would reveal the identity of the Soul-Spirit Divine Physician.
Before, the agreement with Kunlun was as the leader of the Unknowns, the Dragon Mask, not as the Soul-Spirit Divine Physician.
He was going to try to move after a little more time.
“You’re the only ones who can wake him up.”
“Hoo.”
A sigh of relief.
“I don’t know if I should be relieved.”
Although he thought the Soul-Spirit Divine Physician was safe, he felt a sense of unease because it seemed that Yi Rown was holding the leash.
“It’ll be hard to leave here,” Yi Rown said, as if he had made a decision.
“I’ve looked into the restrictions placed on you.”
While they were talking, Yi Rown examined them with the Emperor’s Ring.
“When…!” Lee Dong-gyun was shocked.
The other Unknowns had similar expressions.
Examining the restrictions meant that he had examined them thoroughly.
But they couldn’t feel any signs or senses.
Trickle.
Cold sweat dripped down.
This meant….
‘He’s gotten stronger.’
It was a part where Yi Rown could think that he had become stronger again compared to before.
“You can’t leave the Demonic Celestial Peak unless you purify a certain level of demonic energy or before the time limit,” Yi Rown said.
“If you do, you’ll suffer direct damage to your soul.”
“…I had a rough idea from what I heard.”
“Well, it would be a relief if that was all….”
That’s how restrictions are.
The greater the conditions to be met, the greater the power gained.
No, to be precise, less power compared to the conditions.
They had gained the power to fight against the demons while fighting them.
Even though they were players who had surpassed their limits, the conditions would be harsh.
“Can you wait?”
“It’s going to take at least three years.”
“Three years?” Choi Ye-seul was bewildered.
But the Unknowns seemed to already know.
“Because we felt our shortcomings this time.”
The battle with Hae Nam, or rather, after that.
“Chung In-woo.”
It was a condition set by those who felt a deep sense of inadequacy after seeing the Red Plum Blossom Chung In-woo or Yi Rown.
So that they could properly play an active role after that time.
“Does that mean the leader won’t be able to wake up for three years?” Choi Ye-seul asked, and Yi Rown shook his head.
“Well, if it’s that much time, I might be able to find a way, but it’ll still take a year.”
“…….”
The Unknowns seemed to feel a sense of responsibility.
But.
“Well, there is a way.”
“What is it?” Yi Rown curled up the corners of his lips.

* * *

The strategist of the Galaxy.
He knew that he had risen to a high position that he could not even dare to dream of.
He also knew that he was receiving something that was worth humbly accepting, no matter how dangerous it was.
So he was grateful.
To the Galaxy and to Yi Rown for giving him this opportunity.
But.
“Is that how it happened?”
It was different from what he had imagined.
He had known for a long time that there was something strange about him.
But he never thought that it was another personality inside him, not his own.
Clench.
Lee San-hoo was resentful.
At the same time, he was sorry.
It was like.
“It’s like I used him….”
It felt like he had become a pawn on a chessboard to use Yi Rown, who had shown him kindness.
That’s why.
“I’m resigning.”
Now that Yi Rown had disappeared, he submitted his resignation to Dang Hwa-young, the guild leader of the Galaxy.
“I will entrust my safety to the Galaxy for the time being. If there is anything suspicious about me or if you feel uncomfortable, you can do whatever you want.”
“……Let’s talk when the Blood Demon comes.”
“Understood.”
That’s how he spent his time in seclusion.
The complicated thoughts and feelings in his head and heart were not easily calmed.
“Ha.”
The good house and good environment he had dreamed of.
At that moment, it all felt like a summer midday dream.
Swoosh.
Suddenly, darkness descended.
“Lee San-hoo.”
Shadows surrounded him from all sides.
“You’ll have to come with us.”
Shadows wearing masks.
Even though they were fledgling players, the blurry signs in front of him meant….
‘Experts.’
It meant that they were experts that he could not handle.